This is a place to discover hard to find wines, the finest whiskeys, the best selection of tequila, evolving collection of craft and import beers. Taste, learn, and explore the many sides of Beach Liquors and Wine Merchants.
With Thanksgiving over and the end of year rapidly approaching, it is time to share some Cheer with the world, and happiness as well. This week, we will be kicking off some of our holiday ales with Shiner Holiday Cheer. The gem of Shiner, Texas brings us this dark wheat and barley beer, traditional with the time of year. But Shiner has added something to make this holiday ale its own: Peaches and Pecans grown within the state. These additions provide and sweetness and nuttiness that one would expect, but are subtle enough to harmoniously balance the beer, as if singing the praises of the brewmasters. When I first poured the beer, it had a dark copper color, which was a little lighter than I expected from a dark wheat beer, and the aroma reminded me of peaches and cream oatmeal (the brand I will not say), which oddly enough, I had just a few days ago. The peaches were definitely prevalent in the middle to back part of the tasting with some carmelly wheat on the front. I enjoyed this beer because it still gives that festive, holiday beer presence, but is not spiced like most of the other festive ales. It is definitely a nice change of pace. So, when you pick a 6-pack this weekend, remember, they put 6 in the pack so you have enough to share. Give one to someone you love! Cheers!
Luke Girman…Beer Geek
This week at Beach Liquors we are proud to bring you our Top 10 Selling Wines of 2011 at amazingly low prices.
***Perfect for any wine lover on your list***
1st – Manage A Trois Red Blend
$8.97
2nd – Castello Del Poggio Moscato
$9.97
3rd – Kendall Jackson Vintners Reserve Chardonnay
$10.97
4th – Sterling Vintners Collection
Pinot Grigio
$6.97
5th – Rodney Strong Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon
$10.97
6th – Uppercut Cabernet Sauvignon
$13.97
7th – Hot To Trot Red Blend
$8.97
8th – Evodia Old Vine Granacha
$8.97
9th – Sterling Vintners Collection Chardonnay
$6.97
10th – Stellina De Notte Pinot Grigio
$7.97
Sale runs from Thursday December 1st - Sunday December 4th
As the weather continues to get colder and Halloween has come and gone, the beer continues to change with the seasons and holidays. Oktoberfest is over, Pumpkin beers are drying up rapidly, and this means more dark beers and intense flavors. So this week’s selection is keeping up with the changes, as we introduce Leinenkugel’s Fireside Nut Brown. This beer will live up to its name and be best by the fire with good company. It has an ample amount of roasted maltiness accompanied by slight nuttiness, and will remind you of fresh biscuits at the dinner table. Typically, winter seasonals such as this one; come with a higher alcohol content to give you a “warming” feeling. Fireside Nut Brown does not adhere to this normality, as it only weighs in at 4.9%, which one can appreciate if you are after something to sip on with company. So when you are looking for a beer to enjoy next to the fire when the family is in town for Thanksgiving or Christmas, keep this beer in your top choices. You won’t be disappointed.
In this week’s edition of the beer blog, we will be focusing a little bit more on brewing techniques rather than the typical style profiles (this might be a little technical for some of you out there, but I will try and keep it simple). When brewing beer, there is multiple times at which you add hops for different effects on the beer. Taking Dogfish Head for example, they have a 60/90/120 Minute IPAs. What this is referring to how long the boiling of the wort is (and for Dogfish, how long they are continually adding hops to the wort (unfermented beer)). Typically, you add your “bittering addition hops” at the very beginning of the boil and you add your “aroma hop addition” right before the end of the boil. Think of the bittering addition as taste hops and the aroma addition as the smelling hops. Now that we have this basic principal out of the way, we can get into our beer selection of the week and how this takes effect on the brewing of the beer. Our selection this week is Great Divide Fresh Hop Pale Ale. For those of you who do not homebrew, hops can come in two forms: pelletized or fresh. The vast majority of hops manufacturers (and home brewers) are going too pelletized. Why you ask? Because pelletized hops are compressed, taking up less space and giving you more bang for your buck. Great Divide Fresh Hop is now using freshly picked hops, which as far as weight quantity goes, requires 4 to 5 times more hops! However, the end product is going to be totally different by using fresh hops. The beer will be more floral as far as the aroma because the hops are fresh and have not gone through any processing procedures. They are also able to retain more of the oils that add to flavor because of this. Expect a more organic taste with hints of citrus, but still the sweetness you expect from good pale ale that finishes very crisp and clean. If you have never tried a fresh hopped beer, you are in for a treat from Great Divide Fresh Hop Pale Ale. As their slogan goes; “Great Minds Drink Alike.” Cheers!
“Long ago, ale was known as ‘liquid bread.’ We’ve used our long history of creating the finest malt blends and added fair-trade bananas to awaken the senses with a seriously fruity, rice, yet surprisingly versatile Banana Bread Beer.” For those of you who have read my blogs in the past, I try and give you the closest taste, smell, and appearance that I can of what to expect from our featured beer. This week, I could not do better than what was printed on the bottle of our featured beer of the week, Well’s Banana Bread Beer. You did read that right, Banana Bread Beer. Copper in appearance and smelling just like bananas as expected, this beer is going to please and surprise you for sure. It is still an ale rather than a fruit lambic style, so you will still get the maltiness and some very mild bitterness, but the banana flavor is still dominate. Now to tie the ‘liquid bread’ reference into my equation. As if this beer isn’t phenomenal by itself, there are several banana bread recipes out there that call for beer in them. This is a no-brainer. Use Well’s Banana Bread Beer in your banana bread (recipe below). It calls for 1/4 cup of beer, so that means you will have some left over to enjoy yourself. It’s a ‘two-fer-one!’ So come on in to any of our locations and grab yourself this beer, be ready to be surprised at its unique and delicious taste, and enjoy drinking it while eating some hot banana bread to go with it!
INGREDIENTS:
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2 medium bananas, mashed
1/3 cup melted butter or margarine
1/4 cup beer
PREPARATION:
Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour a 91/4-by-5 1/4-by 23/4-inch pan. In a large bowl blend together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, walnuts, and salt. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs until foamy before beating in the bananas, butter and beer. Combine the two mixtures, blending until the two ingredients are moistened.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean and the top is golden. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 to 10 minutes before removing the loaf from the pan.
It has finally come to that time of year. We are starting to get some cooler weather, the leaves are starting to change color and drop, and all the good fruits and vegetables in the gardens are starting to get picked. This means a couple of things. 43days until Thanksgiving and 19 days until Halloween. Why did I pick these two holidays? Pumpkin pies. And what goes better with pumpkin pie than pumpkin beer. If you have yet to discovery these masterfully created concoctions, do not fret, that what we are here for. This week is Pumpkin Beer week at Kelley’s, so come on by and sample our selection. We will have offerings from Smuttynose, Weyerbacher, Blue Point, Blue Moon, Tommyknocker, and Southern Tier for drinking pleasure. The Southern Tier Pumking is the highlight beer for the week, and for good reason. This smooth, copper color ale hails from New York and delivers everything you would hope for and expect from a pumpkin ale. It smells of pumpkin, nutmeg and gingerbread and delivers the same tastes you would expect from liquid pumpkin pie. It goes down almost too easily, but that is ok since it comes in a 22oz bottle. But Southern Tier did remember to include the “trick” in this beer for “Trick or Treat.” The trick, it packs an 8.6 ABV, so be forewarned. All in all, this kingly pumpkin ale packs everything you would hope for and expect from a well-executed beer, and will make you crave pumpkin pie long before Thanksgiving. So come on by any of our locations and pick yourself up your favorite pumpkin beer, or create your own six pick and bring them all home. Cheers!
